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Antonia Desantis
Principalia Majori Antonia Desantis was the Captain of the Kalu City Watch during the Elusian Civil War, and served as a watchman throughout the events of Hartford's Hazards, The Council of Barons and Company Man. Antonia was instrumental in Hollis' banishment from Kalu, and later brokered an alliance between Kalu Cove, The Hazards and The Mcnatty Fleet against the threat of Tong invasion. Desantis maintained diplomatic channels throughout the Elusian Civil War, up until the Isles' subjugation by the Dupont Company. Early Life Antonia was born to Luiz and Marcella Desantis, two immigrants to the Elusians who settled in the newly established city of Kalu Cove. Throughout her upbringing, she saw the community grow into a sterling jewel of the Outer Rim, boldly resisting the influence of powers like the Tong, The Dupont Company and other players in the Second Age of Discovery. As Kalu became a hub for trade, settlement and peace in the region, Antonia found herself compelled to uphold the tenets laid out by the Council of Kalu. She joined the Kalu City Watch at age fifteen, and subsequently rose through the ranks to commanding her own squadron of watchmen. Principalia Majori Now in a commanding role, Antonia was awarded the rank of Principalia Majori, and tasked with ridding the city of rabble-rousers, trouble-makers and low criminals. On one such night, combing the lower city for miscreants, she was alerted to the presence of a bandit gang hiding out at The Crook and Crosier Tavern. She set her men upon the gang, rounding them up and banishing them from the city. In the act of doing so, she crossed paths with Hollis Calloway, known then as Captain Hartford Reeves. In a fuddled attempt to disassociate with the gang, known as the Ruffians, Hollis lied his way into incriminating himself as a stowaway, another offense under Kalu law. Deciding the city was better without him, Antonia banished him along with the Ruffians. The following months were comparatively quiet for Kalu. The Black Hills Gang, a group of pirates that had plagued Kalu Island for a generation, were unusually quiet. Antonia's workload remained high, as more newcomers to the Isles filed through Kalu, ripe targets for pickpockets and highwaymen. As the months went on, the Watch was beset by strange foreigners from the far east, suspected to be spies for the crime syndicate known as The Tong. Then, months after Hollis' departure from Kalu, disaster struck the Isles. Terrence Garrison, the presumptive incumbent for the Empire's Governor of Elusia was killed in a pirate raid off the coast of Kalu Island. The Dupont escort vessel carrying Garrison was completely destroyed, leaving no survivors. With him dead, the choices for who would assume the role in his stead were few, and none of them were good. The people of Kalu, who looked to Garrison as a strong indicator of prosperity in the future, rioted. The Kalu Watch was scrambled to quell the unrest, but took heavy losses before the riot could be ended. Miguel Tejeda, Captain of the City Watch, was struck by a loose rock, inflicting him with a concussion. When he awoke, days later, he was deemed unfit for leadership, leaving the Captain's position vacant. In a near-unanimous vote by the Council of Kalu, it was determined that Antonia Desantis would be Tejeda's replacement. Captain of the Guard From the beginning, Desantis took her role as Guard Captain very seriously. She launched a campaign to secure lost territory throughout Kalu Island; a mission that proved trivial in the wake of Lucius Doherty, leader of the Black Hills Gang's death. Kalu watchment pushed the Black-Hillsmen back into the hills, securing the highway north to the Governor's Island. This, it turned out, was just in time for the Governor's sudden death at the hands of Hollis Calloway and company, inadverently under the auspices of the Dupont Company. Kalu Watchmen were the first on the scene following the destruction of the Governor's manor, with the news of his death spreading fast across the Isles and abroad. As the council braced for a new appointment for Governor in the coming months, Antonia focused on continued campaigns throughout Kalu Island. In the past few decades, Kalu had lost significant ground not only to the pirates of the Black Hills, but as well to Sastor Mcnatty, Pirate Baron of the South. With the impenetrable territory of Kontembi Island to his east, the Baron had no choice for expansion beside the people of Kalu, who proved more malleable. Under Antonia's leadership, however, the Kalu Watch reclaimed a series of outposts, holdfasts and highways throughout Kalu Island. Just as Antonia found herself to be getting a handle on the dangers of the island, the situation to the north was once more thrown into turmoil. At the Sixteenth Baronsmoot, Sheng Chi of the Tong was named the newest Pirate Baroness of the West, giving legitimacy to the secret conquest she had been leading throughout the northwest of the Isles. As soon as word got out, the waiting fleet of The Tong seized Black Hills Point, and began bringing the western ports of River Bend, Heathmont Harbour and others to heel. At the same time, envoys were dispatched to Kalu Cove, seeking to broker an agreement between them and The Tong. Under the Charter of Kalu, no Mainlander company was allowed within the city's walls. The Council, hellbent on maintaining sovereignty, had held out against the Dupont Company for decades, conceding only a tiny quartermaster in town as the extend of Dupont influence in the region. The Tong, while known to all as a criminal organization, was a legitimate enterprise in the far-eastern lands from which they hailed. In the Outer Rim, The Tong's dirty work and illegal business was conducted without fear of consequence. For both its legitimate and illegitimate interests, The Tong were automatically disqualified from entry into the city, much to Sheng Chi's distaste. As the weeks went on, her envoys became increasingly insistent, as Tong warparties slowly crept south, stagin anonymous raids against Kalu watchposts and checkpoints. The Tong's boldest attack, however, was on Antonia herself. During a mission to recapture territory she insisted on carrying out personally, the watchmen were ambushed by a Tong convoy. While the majority of the party was butchered or scattered, Antonia was taken prisoner, ostensibly for ransome. She was transported to an abandoned Empire fort on the western channels, and held for some time under lock and key. Then, without warning, a team of Hartford's Hazards arrived at the fort, defeating the Tong kidnappers and freeing Desantis from custody. Moments later, a Tong convoy including Sheng Chi herself arrived and recaptured the area, forcing the Hazards to scatter into the jungle. Antonia was accompanied by Hollis Calloway and one other pirate. As the party fled deeper into the brush, they were attacked by a pack of wild dogs, one of many plaguing the uninhabited reaches of the western isles. Spiring, the other pirate, was killed by the dogs, and Antonia and Hollis escaped by diving into a channel, swimming to safety. Calloway lost conciousness, forcing Antonia to personally drag him to safety, in the form of an unmanned Kalu outpost nearby. In exchange for her rescue, Antonia bandaged the pirate's wounds and put him to bed, electing to stay up and keep watch for Tong search parties. When Hollis awoke, the two quickly launched into an argument about their conflicting morals. Though Desantis was grateful for her deliverance from The Tong, she was still bound by her dedication to law enforcement. Hollis declared himself more than a common criminal, and pledged his devotion to the people of Kalu Cove. In the ensuing shouting match, the two gave into their baser urges. Antonia departed from the outpost early the next morning and returned to Kalu. The Kalu Alliance Despite her initial resistance to the idea of cooperating with pirates, Antonia was thrown by Hollis' candidness, to the point of revealing his true identity to her. Over the next few weeks, as the Tong continued to encroach on Kalu territory and the city's position grew more bleak, she felt she had no choice left but to call out for aid. Secretly, she began sending coded messages to Fort Etoufette, trading information with The Hazards and ironing out the details of what assistance the easterly pirates could offer. Her and Hollis' correspondence culminated in a brief meeting, far away from the city walls, at a riverside tavern in the northlands; The Flickering Wick. There, alongside continuing their romantic affair, Desantis and Calloway discussed the extreme imminence of the Tong's final assault. Hollis was en route to settle issues to his fellow baron, Hieronymous Ridley, but made the stop to inform her once and for all that the battle would soon be upon them, and that he would be there to deliver on his promise. Antonia set course back to Kalu Cove, anticipating the battle to come. The First Battle of Kalu Cove A short time later, Antonia bore witness to the coming of the Tong. In a two-pronged assault, Tong warships lay siege to the city's waterfront, while teams of raiders assaulted the north and east gates. Antonia lead the defense of the city proper, spending the first half of the battle overseeing the attempts by the City Watch to prevent the establishment of a beachhead. Landing ships came in waves, most of them sunk by Kalu's cannons but coming at the cost of leaving other fronts underdefended. At the city gates, Tong troops were smashing against the defenses, picking off watchmen. Soon, they had broken into the city, and began wreaking havoc throughout the civilian-occupied districts. Antonia knew she couldn't hold the city with the men she had, but she intended to either go down fighting for the city of her birth, or hold out long enough for help to arrive. As the hours went on, she began to worry that Hollis would not come to save them once again. As the defenders at the beachhead began to wane, the Tong established a foothold in the lower wharfs. The Lighthouse, a symbol of properity and sancutary for Kalu's people, sustained significant damage after multiple rounds of shelling from Sheng Chi's cannons. Just as all hope was seemingly lost, a second set of ships appeared on the horizon. Without warning, a division of the Mcnatty Fleet arrived at the Port of Kalu, taking the Tong by surprise and catching them completely off guard. They smashed through Chi's offensive line, breaking the siege from the south and relieving the exhausted and battle-weary Kalu Watch. As the waterfront was secured once again, Antonia redirected her forces to the east district, intent on cleaning up the Tong raiders that had been plaguing their flank. Just then, Antonia noticed that the alarm braziers atop the Temple Summit had been lit. Fearing for the safety of the councillors, Antonia led a small team of her best men up through the city, fighting off wayward Tong invaders and opportunistic cutthroats along the way. Reaching the top, she discovered that the council's honor guard had largely been killed, but had successfully fought off a team of Tong assassins. From the summit, Antonia and the councillors alike could see the Tong retreating, and celebratory fireworks being used throughout the city. By the skin of their teeth, the people of Kalu had survived the Tong's attack. Antonia would soon come to learn that as well, Hollis and his Hazards had prevented Sheng Chi's personal flotilla from reinforcing the siege; something that not even Mcnatty's dispatched ships could fend off. In recognition of the two pirate barons' heroism, she secretly lifted both of their banishments, allowing them to return to the city under assumed names. Both were present at the inaguration of the new Governor, Hudson Munro, a known shill for the Dupont Company.